Weaver news

Weaver Wednesday [118] - Discovery [1]: Black-winged Bishop

Black-winged Bishop Euplectes hordeaceus

First pic of Black-winged Bishop, from Swainson 1837

Black-winged Bishop distribution, type locality circled

Linnaeus, from wikipedia

Introduction

Linnaeus thought this species came from India, or the [East] Indies ("in Indiis"), a common mistake in his day, as the ship bringing this specimen probably came from the far East but stopped at African ports along the way, where African specimens could have been added to the cargo. Gyldenstolpe (1924) first noticed the error, and restricted the type locality to Senegal as the type specimen matched other specimens from Senegal.

Linnaeus noted the source of the type specimen as "mus ad fr", ie. the Museum Adolphi Friderici, a collection maintained by the King of Sweden, Adolf Fredrik.

Swainson (1837) obtained described a specimen from Senegal as a new species (Crimson-crowned Weaver Euplectes flammiceps), but this was later discovered to be the same species as the Black-winged Bishop. Nevertheless, his painting is the first published illustration of this species, many decades after Linnaeus first described it.